Faith Wins
by SixPerfections
Summary: What if the fight on the rooftop had gone differently? Buffy didn't win. Faith did. How would the destiny of Faith and everyone in Sunnydale have played differently? Eventual T/F and B/F.
1. Bet You Never Thought

**A/N:** A few "warnings" about my story. The first 5 or so chapters I would consider "Very Dark" with some things that may disturb some of you. The whole story isn't like that though! Thanks for checking out my story. I hope it's up to the standard of some of the great stories on this site!

Buffy swung the knife, _my _knife, towards my gut. She did it fast, Buffy'd always been wicked fast and I barely saw her hand moving. Somehow I got my hand in the way and deflected her thrust, grabbing the wrist with the knife in it. Buffy's eyes blazed with surprise and fury at my stopping what she must have thought was a killing blow. I smirked at her and she practically growled at me. Kinda hot.

With her free hand Buffy jabbed at my face. I let it hit me and I feel my lip split open but it put her hand right where I wanted it. With my free hand I grabbed the wrist of the arm that just punched me gripping it tight. Now I had a hold of both her wrists in my hands and the smirk I gave her felt deranged even to me. With both her wrists in my hands it suddenly turned into a contest of strength.

That type of fight worked for me. Buffy had always been a bit faster and more slippery. I'd always been meaner and stronger than her. A knife fight against Buffy would have gone bad for me but this kind of fight of brute strength was totally in my wheelhouse. We musta looked like a couple of those freakin' wrestlers on TV.

I had a death grip on Buffy's wrists and was slowly winning the fight of strength, bending her wrists at a painful angle. Buffy made an angry strangled sound and was forced to drop the knife in her hand which clanged nosily to the floor.

"What's the matter B? You came up here to kill me and I bet you never thought for one second you might be the one to lose, did ya?" I taunted her. A wide unpleasant smile spread across my face as I saw Buffy's stoic angry face start to show pain as I deepened my makeshift wristlocks on her hands.

"Looks like Angel's gonna die after all B," I taunted her, feeling cocky now, "who's the better Slayer now?"

Buffy's eyes burned with raw fury and she suddenly found the strength to stop the slow torquing of her wrists. I shoulda kept my mouth shut about Angel.

"You don't know the first damn thing about being a Slayer," she hissed at me. Buffy yanked both her arms down suddenly, causing me to lean forward and lose my balance. She got her hands free from mine and swept my feet out from under me causing me to fall on my hands and knees on the edge of the roof. I was maybe two feet from going over.

"And Angel definitely isn't going to die," Buffy said in cold fury as she stood above me. She leaned in and punched at my head as hard as she could.

Without any conscious thought what I did next was pure fury and reflex. I deflected Buffy's blow to my head and grabbed the knife Buffy had dropped at the same time. I saw my opening and rammed my knife into her gut.

I saw the look of pain and disbelief on her face and suddenly the shit became real. B had fucked me over, betrayed me and hurt me bad. I wanted to get her back, cut her up a little, make her feel the pain too. But seeing what I had just done I realized I never wanted to kill her.

The look on her face was pure betrayal and disbelief as she took a couple of small steps backwards. I could only watch from the ground frozen and wide eyed as Buffy cradled the knife in her stomach with her hands.

"I hope you're happy now Faith," she said to me, her pain filled eyes locking with mine for a moment. I think she expected me to make a smart ass comment or to gloat.

Instead I shook my head numbly. "Not really," I said in a voice that sounded strange and hollow to my ears.

Buffy's eyes narrowed a little bit at that. Then she took another stumbling half step backwards and her foot met empty air. I could only watch Buffy's panicked face in slow motion as she fell over the side of the building.

After what seemed like forever I heard a crash down below. That finally snapped me out of it and I scrambled to the edge of the building to look over. I saw that B had fallen on some pallets and shit on the back of a large truck that was passing by. As it drove away I could clearly see Buffy's unmoving form with the knife still sticking out of her stomach. Black clothes hid the blood but I kept thinking how she must be bleeding like crazy.

After the truck was out of sight I slowly made my way back inside my apartment. My mind was numb, but some part of my mind kept telling me that I didn't want to be the one to kill Buffy. Was she dead? There was a damn good chance of that after a fall like that. But maybe she wasn't dead.

I picked up the phone, hands shaking. Cursing myself, telling myself I was stupid for feeling like this and for doing what I was about to I dialed 911.

"911 operator, how may I direct your call?"

"Yeah uh... I live on a building off of main street. I saw a girl unconscious on the back of a truck driving towards downtown. It wasn't a pickup it was one of those commercial looking ones. I uh, think she was hurt."

"I see. We'll send someone to take a look. What is your name Miss?"

I hung up the phone on her. Knowing the woman would probably try to call back this number I picked up the phone again and dialed another number I knew I had to call. On the second ring someone picked up the line.

"This is Mayor Wilkins III speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hey boss. It's Faith."

"Faith! I was just getting worried about you. We got some reports of some big fight over at your apartments, I just sent some boys over. What happened? Is everything alright?"

If there was one thing thing I was always good at was faking an upbeat and cocky attitude no matter what kind of bullshit was going on in my life. "Yeah boss, totally Five-by-five. You won't believe what just happened, little miss perfect Slayer Buffy Summers came to my apartment to try to kill me."

"Really? Invading someone's home, that young woman is incredibly rude. So what happened? Did you run her off?"

I had to try real, real hard to make my voice sound excited and upbeat, "Even better than that boss. We had a big fight but I iced the bitch. She's dead."

There was a small pause, and then the boss's excited voice came over the line, "That is wonderful news Faith! Wow, what a wonderful girl you are! You've just cleared the last hurtle for our ascension tomorrow. There will be many gifts and baked goods in it for you after this young lady, it'll be just like Christmas come early. Simply delightful! Now, are you quite sure the Slayer is dead?"

"Sure as I can be. I stabbed her in the gut and threw her off the roof. She landed on the back of some truck passing by but after that fall there's no way she's still alive."

"That's great Faith. Just great! In which direction was the truck moving?"

"Away from downtown on main street," I lied.

"I'll see if some of the boys can find her. I can't tell you how proud of you I am Faith. Taking you in when you came to my door was the best decision I ever made. Make sure to get plenty of rest, you'll need it for our big day tomorrow!"

"Sure thing boss. Can't wait."

"Come by my office around five tomorrow. We'll talk plans and then leave for my big speech and ascension at the high school at six thirty. Hopefully I'll have found out by then if the other Slayer is truly dead."

"No problem boss. You know I'm your girl."

"And a darling girl you are. Until tomorrow!" then he hung up.

I was feeling torn right then. The boss was sort of like the dad I never had. He treated me right, not like a piece of meat and even though it was kinda embarrassing I did eat it up when he complimented me. Hell in a lot of ways it did feel damn good to hear him sing my praises like that and I knew he meant it. Still I couldn't quite make myself feel good about what I'd just done to Buffy.

Before I had never given it much thought about Buffy ending up dead which I realized was kinda dumb. Of _course_ Buffy was going to end up dead in this whole mess. Until I stabbed her I didn't realize how sick the whole thing made me.

Buffy was strong, I told myself. Slayers are double tough and I was proof enough of that. She would survive that fall. And if she didn't...

I tried to shake off the feelings that came up with that line of through. Fuck Buffy. Fuck her. What did she think was gonna happen when she came here to feed me to her vampire boyfriend? She tried to kill me and if she's dead she got what she had coming. It's a dog eat dog world and she messed with the wrong bitch. It's the law of the jungle baby and if she couldn't take the damn heat she shoulda gotten out of the kitchen while she still had the fuckin' chance.

I tried to make myself feel angry and indignant at Buffy that night because the alternative was way worse. It sort of worked. I got cleaned up in the bathroom and stripped before crawling into bed. It was damn early but I felt exhausted from that vicious fight and just wanted to go to sleep.

I didn't fall asleep for hours, going back and forth between hoping Buffy was still alive and trying to feel angry and justified in case she was dead. I almost got out of bed a couple of times to go out and see for myself how she was - that's how much I kept turning that shit over and over in my head. But there was no way I was doing that. Alive or dead there was no way I wanted to see what state Buffy was in plus it might look bad to the boss if I went snooping all concerned like over Buffy's well being. I'd find out tomorrow what happened one way or the other. Eventually exhaustion won and I fell into a troubled sleep.


	2. Ascension

**Disclaimer:** Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox, UPN and WB Television Networks own the television shows, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". Dark Horse and IDW own the Comics. No copyright infringement is intended, no money is being earned by the owners of .

**Chapter 2: Ascension**

**Author's Notes:** Any critique is welcome. What you like, what you didn't like with my style of writing lay it all on me. Just trying to get better at it. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

I think I woke up sometime in the morning but I stayed in bed and kept trying to sleep until sometime after one in the afternoon. Eventually I couldn't keep up even that half-awake, half-asleep feeling so I got up. Looking at my clock I had about four hours before I had to be at the boss's office.

I was feeling more calm than the night before but I was still feeling anxious about what happened with Buffy. In fact it was all I could think about. Calling 911 last night had been stupid, that call could easily be traced back to me and then the cops might come sniffing around. The Mayor could take care of it but then he'd know what I did. He wouldn't be happy with me calling help for his worst enemy. Hell in this town I wouldn't be surprised if he knew about it already.

Well, if we actually destroyed the town and shit that night worrying the boys in blue mighta been a moot point.

There was no way I was going to go to the hospital or even call to check on Buffy. If the Mayor got wind of that I would definitely have some very awkward questions to answer. Besides, I tried to tell myself, if she died it wasn't a huge deal. Yup. It wasn't any kind of big deal at all, and there wasn't any reason I should should give a shit. She turned on me. It was kill or be killed. Just the way of the world, there was nothing else to it baby.

Fucking barbie golden girl. I could never figure out why everyone acted like she could walk on water and was so damn perfect. Always the good girl, always doing the 'right thing' thinking she was better than me. Lying to me. Not having my back after that deputy major bullshit. Bitch had the gall to pretend to be my 'friend'. Why should I give a shit if she's dead or not? Because I totally, totally didn't care.

Fuck. Better if I just stopped thinking about it, got shit to do today.

I ate half a box of cereal and threw on some ratty old work out clothes. I spent the next two hours wailing away at the punching bag in my room, trying to clear my head and work off some stress. That night was our big night, when the boss would finally ascend and we would be kings of this shit little town. I had no idea what plans the boss had after that but knowing him he already had his sights on something bigger than just Sunnyhell. It was exciting being a part of all that. Making our own rules, saying 'fuck you' to the man, taking whatever we wanted. It brought a smile to my face and it helped to push thoughts of Buffy out of my head. Nothing and no one could stop us now. It was gonna be wicked wicked awesome.

Having had enough, I stopped and got in the shower. After taking my sweet time in there I came out and put a frozen pizza in the oven. I looked over at the kitchen clock. It was about an hour and a half until I had to meet the boss, time to get ready.

I took a minute deciding what to wear for our big night and settled on black jeans, a blood red top and a brand new leather jacket I'd bought with the boss's cash just the day before. I was going to put on a crap ton of makeup and eyeliner until I remembered the boss said he thought I looked prettier with a more understated look. Feeling kinda silly changing my habits 'cuz of him I still went lighter on the make up than I usually did. Still, I couldn't be totally doin' shit just 'cuz someone else wanted me too. I put on some black lipstick knowing he wouldn't be super thrilled about that.

I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. Why wouldn't I? It was my big day. I was young and strong and hot as hell, ready to ride and take on the whole 'friggin world. Fuck yeah.

"Knock 'em dead Faith," I said winking at my own reflection.

By the time I finished eating the frozen pizza it was time for me to head over to the boss's office. I got there with a few minutes to spare. No use being late on the big day, I doubted the boss would have been too tolerant of bullshit on his special night.

I walked in the office and the boss was talking with one of his vamps. When the boss saw me his face split into a wide grin.

"Faith! And right on time too," he got up from his desk and walked over to me.

"Sure am boss. Wouldn't be late for your big coming out party or nothin'" I said, smiling a little in spite of myself.

He walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, giving them an affectionate squeeze. God I was such a sap. Any touching still made me kind of uncomfortable, but with the way the boss was around me I ate it up like some kind of attention starved kid.

He smiled fondly at me and I had to wonder if this is what having a dad was supposed to be like. "You did so, so well last night Faith. I just recently got confirmation of your success," said the boss, putting one of his hands gently on the back of my shoulder and leading me towards one of the chairs in front of his desk.

It felt like my heart froze in my chest at hearing that. "Yeah?" I asked, my voice coming out just a bit strained despite my best efforts.

The boss didn't seem to notice. I took the hint and sat down while he went and sat behind his desk.

"Absolutely. Unfortunately the boys couldn't find her in time so she ended up in the hospital. I might have gone through the trouble of arranging an 'accident' to happen to her after I heard but it turns out that won't be necessary. With the head trauma and blood loss turns out the little blonde Slayer is in a permanent coma. The doctors assure me that it's so bad she'll probably never wake up from her condition. Isn't that just grand?" asked the boss, looking genuinely happy and enthusiastic.

I shrugged casually, putting on my uncaring and flip persona like a glove, "I'm just glad she got what she had coming. Serves her right for trying to screw with you and coming after me."

"Yes she did get what she had coming didn't she? You may have had a few setbacks but eventually you came out on top of her in the end like I always knew you would. I think you deserve a reward for this young lady. Didn't you tell me once you like Harley Davidson motorcycles?"

My eyes lit up, and there was no need to fake that, "Really boss? You'd do that for me?" I said genuinely surprised. I couldn't keep the eagerness out of my voice.

"Of course I would Faith. You've done so well recently, I think you've more than earned it. Any year, make or model you want is yours. But-" he said holding up a hand, "we won't get it for you until we can get you a proper driver's license young lady. I want to be sure you'll know to follow the proper rules of the road and practice safe driving. I know how dangerous those motorcycles can be. After we get you your license we can go shopping for one together."

Part of me was still thrown and feeling a little sick about the news on Buffy. But the prospect of going shopping for a Harley with the boss made it easier for me to put those worries on the back burner.

"Damn boss. You sure know how to spoil a girl," I said with a grin, already picturing myself driving down the highway on the back of a hog.

"Language young lady. And like I said, I think you have absolutely earned it. Now we should really get moving on to the business of tonight, we have a time table to keep you know! I wanted to fill you in on what your role will be tonight. We pull this off Faith and there is no limit to how high you and I will soar."

I nodded, more than ready to get down to business. "What do you need me to do boss?"

"I would like you there to watch my ascension. You won't need to do much, just keep an eye on the vamps and make sure they do their job right. They need to keep the graduating class from escaping. No sampling though! I will need to eat the students once I ascend to make my ascension permanent. I need you to stay away from the action though Faith, when I'm in that state I might not be able to tell one human apart from another and I don't want to risk you getting hurt."

I smiled. All those kids at the school had always been total jackasses. It suited me just fine that they were going to get eaten, sort of like one of those Japanese monster movies I sometimes watched when I was a kid. Besides, just look out for number one right?

"No problem. Easy enough job."

"Then comes the second part which might be a bit trickier. When I took charge of the vampires in this town I made some promises to them, some that I need you to help me fulfill. One of the things that comes due after my ascension is an all-you-can-eat human buffet for the vampires who elected to follow me. I found the perfect place for that and I want you to supervise, make sure things don't get too out of hand."

That didn't sound like something I really wanted to get involved in. But fuck it, victory goes to the powerful right? It was just some unfortunate shit that had to happen so we could win. Besides I knew me doing this was more an 'order' than a 'suggestion'. Just had to buck up and get it done.

"Anything you want boss. Just tell me where and what you want me to do," I said.

"Good, excellent. Here is the plan; after my ascension is complete you'll take all of our vamps to Sunnydale Memorial. Predators love nothing more than the weak and injured. I want you to go floor by floor with them and make sure they don't trash the place. Hospital equipment is expensive and when we're in charge it still needs to be running and operational. Let them eat anyone and everyone in there, they've earned it after all. Just make sure there isn't too much damage and that they clean up after themselves afterwards."

Shit. Shit. That wasn't the kind of thing I'd signed up for. The boss sat there, looking at me expectantly. Shit. Fuck. I couldn't back out now. I was in too deep. I had to see this through or the boss wouldn't trust me anymore. As much as I liked the guy it hit me right then and there that if he didn't think he could count on me things could suddenly go bad for me. Real bad.

Instead if showing any of that I gave him the best cocky smile I could, "If that's what you need boss. I'll take care of it, it won't be a problem."

"Good, good! You may be young Faith but there is no one I have that I can count on as much as you," he said. Then almost as an afterthought he added, "Oh and make sure the Buffy Summers girl dies. I know she's in a coma, but why take any chances with her ever waking up? And after she's dead make sure she won't be coming back as a vampire. She should be on the third floor."

~Faith Wins~

I had to wait around for the boss to finish up a few more meetings before he was ready to go. His car came around and picked us up. As we sat inside I was glad the boss had his cell phone up to his ear and was yacking away at some city official because I didn't feel much like talkin'. I'd do whatever needed to get done and I'd done a fair job not thinking about it so far. Going over the plan 'one more time' with the boss wouldn't be doing me any favors.

When the car came to a stop he finally cut short the conversation he was having with a city manager or something. He put the phone away and looked at me with a huge smile. "Time is almost here. I'm guessing less than thirty minutes now before my ascension. Are you doing alright Faithy?"

"Doin' great. You know me boss, always Five-by-five," I said with a genuine small smile. Though I really wasn't thrilled about some things that night I was more than stoked to see the boss's ascension.

"I'm so glad to hear it. After you're finished at the hospital, take the rest of the night off. Celebrate. Live life a little. It's going to take a bit of time to get used to my new form so I'll be busy with that the rest of the night. Come see me at my office at noon tomorrow."

The damn hospital. Did he have to fucking mention that? Like I would have forgotten or some shit? I went back to not thinking about it as much as I could. "Yeah sure. If there's anything I'm good at it's havin' a good time," I said with all the sass I could muster.

"Excellent. Try not to go too much overboard though. Remember, responsibility! Now let's go. Our moment has finally arrived!" he said jovially before opening the door and stepping out of the car. I followed him out and we found ourselves in front of Sunnydale High.

It may have been late in the afternoon but it was still sunny as hell out. Kind of hard to believe there would be an eclipse in under an hour and that the school would be swarming with vamps.

I skirted the outskirts of the school trying to stay out of sight as much as possible. The boss had everything under control, there was never really much chance of anyone stopping him in the first place with him being indestructible-man. With Buffy out of the picture and Angel probably dead by now the Scoobs and that stupid council tweed really had no one to fight for them. Still it was best for me to be careful in case they tried something anyway. Didn't want to get snatched up by the council again for being careless either.

I found a spot in the woods where I could watch the stage and ceremony unseen. It was around the spot some vamps were supposed to meet up with me after the eclipse started so I had nothing to do but stand and watch until the big moment.

For a graduating class a hell of a lot of people didn't bother to show. I'd always thought graduating highschool was a big 'frigging deal but it looked like only about a quarter of the kids had bothered to show up judging by the number of empty seats. Looked like word had gotten out about bad shit going down but not everyone had listened. The troll-looking principal looked furious but the boss stood smiling and unconcerned on the stage. I guessed enough people had shown up to take care of his ascension munchies.

The boss began his speech and I couldn't really make out too well the words over the wind and distance but it's not like I really gave a damn what he was saying to them. 'Thank you for showing up as take out with legs' or something. Looking at the backs of all those people in their red gowns just sitting there I had to wonder if they had any idea what was about to happen to them.

Everything started to get dark and through the trees I could see the sun covering over. A sense of unease and panic seemed to ripple through the crowd at the ceremony. It only took a few moments before I felt what must have been a dozen vamps gathering all around me. I had to suppress the urge to pull out a stake at having so many bloodsuckers nearby.

One of the vamps walked up to me, a huge dude that must have been seven feet tall and three hundred fifty pounds of fat and muscle when he died. "I'm Rob," he said to me, "Mayor put me in charge as your second in command. I'm supposed to stick by you and make sure everything goes smoothly 'till this is over."

_Great. A goddamn babysitter_ I thought, wondering how much trouble I would get in if I just dusted the vamp right then and there. In the end I decided it would probably get me in more trouble than it was worth. "Whatever. Just don't get in my way," I said to him dismissively.

He just nodded and stepped aside to let me watch the festivities. While Rob had been talking to me it looked like things had finally started. Where the boss had been standing a minute ago there was now a growing, withering mass of green scales and flesh.

"Ok boys, you know your jobs," I said loudly to all the vamps behind me without turning around, "get out there and make sure no one runs away. Boss is gonna need a full belly."

The dozen or so vamps surged ahead and it was kind of a power trip to have them all jump when I said so, do whatever I told them to. I could kinda see why Buffy liked to snap orders at everyone so much. Rob the vampire stayed behind in the woods next to me. I resisted the urge to lash out and dust him. Having a babysitter was going to get real damn old, real fast.

Over the next minute or so the mass of flesh that was the boss grew and grew until it was sixty feet tall. I watched in fascination and horror as it rippled and molded itself into the form of a gigantic demonoid snake. It made the Slayer in me scream to go out there and fight it, to kill it. Instead I just stood there watching what had formerly been my boss turn it's head to the sky and roar in triumph.

"Fuck," I said in a hushed whisper, unsettled by what I was seeing.

The roar of the boss seemed to break the shocked disbelief of the students and they started panikin'. As one they all began to scream and run in all directions. It was way too late for that though. The boss's vamps had the whole ceremony surrounded and there was nowhere for them to go.

I saw the demon – the boss, whatever it was – strike down quick as a cobra. It snatched up some guy and lifted him straight up as he began to swallow him whole. I watched in horror as the dude's legs seemed to still be kicking as the demon swallowed him down it's gullet.

"Dis' is just what's gotta happen," I muttered to myself as I watched it happen.

I watched feeling bile rising up in my throat as I saw the demon strike down again and again, each time grabbing another person and raising it's head up to swallow them whole and kicking. After the fourth or fifth person I just couldn't watch anymore, instead I looked down at the ground and shut my eyes. Seeing the demon swallow those people whole while they were still alive was just too much reality. But even with my eyes closed I could still hear the panicked screams of all them people.

_It's gotta be this way. It __**has**__ to be this way. It's too late too back out now. This is just what's gotta happen. This is what it takes to be on the winning team _I thought. It didn't wash away those images of those kids getting swallowed whole though. It didn't even drown out the panicked screams of pure terror that were extra clear with my Slayer hearing.

They seemed to go on fucking forever, the screams. They weren't like the screams you hear in the movies either, those are just show. Real shrieks of terror hit something primal inside you and causes instant dread. The screams went on and on but eventually there were fewer and fewer of them. Eventually only the occasional terrified cry could be heard. Then nothing. It was finally over.

"Ms. Lehane?" asked Rob, seeing that I hadn't said anything or moved since the screaming had stopped. I realized now that the demon – I mean the boss – had finished feeding there was something else I was expected to do.

"Round up all the boys Rob-man," I said to him trying to sound as cool as I possibly could, "time to take them to that all-you-can-eat buffet you and your boys have been promised."


	3. Hospital

**Chapter 3: Hospital**

**Author's Notes:** So I was a little worried about posting this chapter and the next. Not exactly rainbows and sunshine but then again rainbows and sunshine wouldn't be enough to shake up Faith. I'm still a newish author so any comments are welcome. The good, the bad and the ugly, I'm just trying to become a better writer! Lay it on me.

It was weird as hell, walking down the dark streets of Sunnydale surrounded by fifty or so vamps. Their pressure on my Slayer senses was almost overwhelming and my fingers kept nervously twitching towards a stake in my pocket. Rob was strutting around, enjoying his 'lieutenant' role and shouting orders about how the Mayor wanted this to go down. That was fine with me. I wasn't in much of a talkin' mood.

After he got done with his yelling Rob fell in to step next to me. I ignored him.

"Ms. Lehane, the boys all know to go only one floor at a time and wait for your go-ahead to move on to the next. They know they are not to harm any of the equipment or expensive looking things. I should warn you though than in the...excitement of it all some of them might have a hard time controlling themselves. We might need to step in if that happens."

I made a vague grunting sound, right then not giving two shits about hospital equipment or anything else.

Rob got the hint and shut up. He was smart enough to keep his distance while we walked in silence.

A lot of emotions were roiling under the surface then for me, emotions I didn't need or want to identify. I locked them away as best I could and focused on my breathing as we walked. There was no question I needed to get my cool back, but it wasn't coming to me easy then. I felt on edge and ready to snap at any moment. Currently having a small army of vamps surrounding me wasn't doing me any favors either.

By the time we got to the hospital twenty or so minutes later I felt a little more in control of myself. Just like with Buffy, Alan Finch and everything else in my life it was just a matter of locking any feelings away to where they couldn't hurt me anymore. Only chumps let shit like that bother them. Survival of the fittest, might makes right and all that other crap was the only thing really that mattered. Want, Take, Have motherfuckers.

All the vamps suddenly stopped a hundred feet or so from the hospital entrance as if by some unseen signal. Surprised I stopped with them a step later. I felt a chill run up my spine that had nothing to do with being a Slayer when fifty pairs of undead eyes turned on me.

It was too damn late to back out now. Far too late.

I stood tall and used my best confident commanding tone, "Have at it boys!" I roared.

A chorus of yells and howls ripped from the undead and as a swarm they all rushed the entrance to the hospital. They all made it inside before I heard the first screams. Slowly, reluctantly, I stepped up and followed.

~Faith Wins~

The first thing I saw when I stepped into the hospital was the reception area. I saw a couple of vamps finishing up a few people before running off at a full sprint further into the hospital.

There were bodies there in the reception area. About twenty of them, all of them drained by the group of vamps in under a minute. A couple of nurses on the floor. The receptionist was somehow still leaning over the reception desk even in death. I really would have thought her body would have fallen to the floor instead of staying in that awkward position. The rest of the people had been those waiting in the reception area . They'd been there just waiting. Waiting for an appointment or X-ray or to be let into the ER for a rash or burning crotch or some shit. Fuck.

I swallowed thickly. I'd seen bodies before, sure, but never so many so casually thrown on the floor and piled on top of each other. My eyes seemed to flick of their own accord from one pair of sightless dead eyes to another, and another, and another, and another. They all had that look that was always a mixture of surprise and fear. All their dead eyes seemed to be looking right at me.

I shivered and set my eyes firmly forward away from all the bodies. Walking quickly I made my way further into the hospital, following the army of vamps. I didn't want to, I wanted to turn around and leave but I was supposed to be there to supervise them. You know, so they wouldn't break any of the expensive equipment. Right.

I made my way down the hallway and peeked into open office doors on either side. Most of them had some newly dead person drained of blood. As I walked down the hall there were dozens of them. For some reason a cute blonde nurse with one of her shoes knocked off decided to plant herself in the front of my mind. Her eyes were looking right at me just like everyone else's were.

I sped up my pace, now making it a point not to look at the bodies. The next double doors were closed and I barged into them into the ER. This time I didn't look directly at the bodies but I noticed them all in my peripheral vision. There were doctors, nurses, and patients lined up on beds all laying unnaturally still. I walked as fast as I could, trying to get away from the death all around me. My eyes were fixed on my next destination and I refused to look at anything else.

After more double doors and who knows how many dead eyes that seemed to follow me I reached the back of the hospital where the vamps were all waiting for me, looking impatient.

As I got closer to them I wondered what the hell they were doing until I remembered they were waiting for my word to go up to second floor.

_I don't have a choice. I don't have a choice. I don't have a choice. If I try to tell them no to the blood the boss promised them they'll probably kill me and go up anyways. Even if they do listen to me the boss won't be so understanding... he might or might not kill me but he'll be pissed hell. Those people upstairs are dead anyway. Why should I have to go down with them? _I thought. But the words sounded hollow in my head. I looked at the vamps arrayed in front of me and all around, most of them with their game faces still on and many of them with visible blood dripping down their chins.

_Is this what I signed up for? Helping vamps get their jollies munching on people?_ I thought to myself in disgust. These were vamps, I was supposed to kill them. Not help them do... this. How had things gotten so fucked up?

Some of the vamps started shifting expectantly and I realized I'd been quiet too long. I didn't want to see another floor of dead bodies again. I didn't. I really really didn't. But I had to go upstairs, by holy hell I had no frigging choice. Then it occurred to me how I could pull it off.

"You boys ran ahead of me when I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on things. This time I'll go first and all of you stay behind me, and _don't _run ahead of me. No more of this sprinting through the hallways bullshit on the next floor," I said to them surprising myself by how stern and cold I sounded.

I glared at all the vamps and was met with a chorus of nods and agreements. Something in what I said or in my face or voice must have made an impression because not one of them seemed willing to meet my eye as I looked them over. Knowing I couldn't put it off any further I went to the end of the hall through the mass of vamps and pulled open the door with the stairs and headed upwards to the second floor.

It was strange as hell, walking up a flight of stairs with a gaggle of vamps behind me like I was the friggin' pied piper of evil. I could hear them shuffling behind me and their every step made me sick. Fucking disgusting monsters. Whose fault was it that there were so many in this town?

_Survival of the fittest, right?_ came the unwanted thought, taunting me.

I burst through the door on the second floor and was surprised by a male orderly standing right there who had been reaching for the door. He had big brown eyes and dark skin and he looked at me in confusion. The tag on his shirt said 'Fred'.

"Excuse me miss," he began. I didn't give him a chance to continue. I pushed him out of my way into a wall and stalked past him.

I tried to ignore Fred – the guy's – strangled scream behind me as one of the first vamps got him. I wasn't going to see anything. I didn't want to see anything. If I didn't see anything then it wouldn't matter. It wouldn't.

_This is how it's gotta be. This is how it's gotta be. This is how it's gotta be,_ I chanted to myself in my head, feeling the edges of my self control starting to unravel.

My goal was to get to the other side of the hospital and just wait there until the undead were finished. I walked fast straight ahead trying to keep my eyes on the far end of the hall and not look at anything else. The sounds of surprise and screams and the joyous sounds of vampires getting their meal on drove me faster and I felt my body start to shake. I realized I was shaking because I'd been clenching all my muscles as tight as I could.

As much as I didn't want it to my gaze flickered left and right into hallways and patient's rooms a few times. There was an old couple looking scared as they sat together in one of the rooms. Some big guy with his leg in traction frowning at all the noise outside. A guy with his head covered in bandages who was completely passed out.

The screams. The NOISE. I literally turned my back to those people and they were dying behind me.

I reached the end of the hall and put a hand on the wall, leaning heavily and steadying myself. I felt like too taunt piano wire about to snap at any moment. What was I doing? _All this shit. FUCK. _What the HELL was I doing?

"Ms. Lehane, we-"

I whirled and drove a stake through the vamp's heart before I even knew what I was doing. As he turned to dust I realized who I'd just staked. It was Rob, my goddamn vampire babysitter.

_Get it together Faith. Get it together. You're coming apart here,_ I though to myself, taking deep raggedy breaths in a vain attempt to calm down. My muscles were coiled tighter than ever and I could feel the shaking in my body getting worse.

I stood there for who knows how long until the screams died down and all the vamps came and milled around me. There all had stupid grins on, the expressions their bumpy and ridged faces making them look high as kites. I wanted to stake them all. Sons of bitches, I wanted to dust every last one.

There were still fifty vamps looking at me expectantly though, not seeming to notice or mind the pile of dust at my feet. I didn't want to die. I knew that's exactly what would happen then if I tried to deny them what was rightfully 'theirs'.

I felt impotent. Powerless. There was nothing I could do to stop these vamps from massacring everyone upstairs and I knew it. But somehow if I gave them permission to go upstairs I would also be responsible. Wasn't sure doing that was something I could really live with.

I did it anyway. I didn't want to die. They all rushed past me, one of the vamps shoving me out of the way in his eagerness to get up the stairs. I watched as the hungry, frenzied press of bodies rushed upstairs to whoever was left alive in this grand fucking place. None of them were in much of their right mind.

There was no way I was going upstairs, I didn't care what the boss said. There was no fucking way. I needed to get out of there. Leave. Just run and leave this whole crazy insane fucked up night behind.

Then I remembered something. Something the boss had told me.

_She should be on the third floor._

Buffy.

_Fuck._

I didn't know what I was doing. By that time that part of my brain that thought things out had completely checked out. Not knowing what I was going to do, not having any plan, knowing it was most likely already too late, I turned and ran up the stairs to the third floor.


End file.
